Distinguished

By Em Fergusson

“Distinguished” is former NFL players Gino Mingo and Marcus Price, the dynamic duo hailing from Denver Colorado and Houston, Texas. They share their journey in creating their new album, Worship Warriors with Gospelcity.com. The two retired NFL players also expressed how the power of God’s love touched their lives and how they hope to reach others through their ministry.

GC: How did the two of you get together to form Distinguished?
Marcus:Gino and I were … leaders in our church in San Diego, California and we’ve been singing together for the last six years. I was playing football and part of that time, Gino and I were regularly planning to do two solo projects. Over the course of time in the church, we just felt in our hearts to work as a duo. ..That’s really how we got our start – we just really got our message and what we wanted to say before we got started.

GC: At what point did you feel the call to sing gospel – has this call been constant in your life [throughout the years], during your NFL career or when you left?
Marcus: I always had a love for gospel music and just always enjoyed not just the singing of gospel music but what it meant to me, personally. So even though I was still playing, I grew up in the church, in a Christian home …I was always exposed to Christian and gospel music so I had a special love for gospel music all along. Even while I was playing and when I retired it wasn’t like I had an epiphany for gospel music; it was always in my heart.

Gino: It’s interesting because when I laid down my football career, being called into the ministry and singing all of my life, it was a natural transition. When I first joined the praise and worship group in my church, things just took on a natural tone from that point.

GC: What was the inspiration behind the album, Warriors/Worshippers - just the concept of the songs and how you came together to get the album started?
Gino: I think Warriors really epitomizes our hearts for God and message we want to convey as Christian men – it really runs parallel with the life of David. David was the greatest king that never lost a battle. There’s such a beautiful dynamic there with this man who is a warrior for Israel but equally a man who loved to worship God. He loved to help people get through struggles and heartaches in their lives. How to be victorious when things don’t look like they’re going right. It’s really just something that has taught me to turn to God and how to live our lives right. I think we don’t see a lot of how to be a man and turn to God in the Body of Christ.